Toyota S-FR Concept: Small, Front-Engine, Rear-Drive? Sign Us Up

Peter Lyon

Oct 8, 2015

Alexander Stoklosa

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Heading up the Toyota lineup of debuts at the 2015 Tokyo auto show is the S-FR concept, which stands for Small, Front-Engine, Rear-Drive. Aimed at bolstering the company’s performance image, the two-plus-two sports car boasts a compact configuration; Toyota characterizes it as an entry-level sports coupe—one that is headed for production.

Alexander Stoklosa

Toyota isn’t yet sharing details of the car’s mechanicals, but we have it on good authority that it’s powered by a 1.5-liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder, making about 130 horsepower, which ought to be enough to motivate the 2160-pound coupe.

A wheelbase of 97.6 inches puts the S-FR about midway between Toyota’s current compact rear-drive sports coupe, the Scion FR-S (101.2 inches), and the Mazda Miata (90.9 inches). So, too, does the concept’s overall length of 157 inches, which is 10 inches shorter than the FR-S and three inches longer than the Mazda. At 66.7 inches wide, the Toyota is narrower than both cars, and it’s also taller, at 52 inches.

The S-FR clearly takes its inspiration from the Toyota Sports 800 from the 1960s, with a simple, rounded design that stands in stark contrast to recent Toyotas, which are a crazy quilt of angular sheetmetal. The black interior features similarly organic shapes and is brightened with neon-yellow, body-colored accents.

The S-FR is actually the lower end of a three-pronged sports-car lineup that will include the FR-S directly above it and the new Toyota-and-BMW co-developed Supra successor above that. The S-FR is expected to go into production in late 2016, with sales starting in early 2017—here’s hoping those sales extend to American shores, as well.